


Precious Gems

by aruarudayo



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Gemstone Meanings, Gen, Hoshimeguri AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 14:12:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16703956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aruarudayo/pseuds/aruarudayo
Summary: On lanterns and names and finding the light in the dark





	Precious Gems

**Author's Note:**

> This is vaguely based on the hoshimeguri Alba booklet, specifically [this translation](https://twitter.com/sakaimii/status/1058551389616402432?s=21) on twitter, but I haven’t read the booklet myself and I took a number of creative liberties lol. I thought it was interesting that Carnelian and Lazu are both named after gems even though they’re essentially from different classes? So my train of thought just went from there. Their characters are definitely closer to Mitsuki and Tamaki (especially Tamaki), but in my defense there's barely any au material for me to work off of. This is barely edited and pretty rushed because I wanted to get it up before the event started (I'm a little late fkdjsjsk), but I hope you enjoy. Also, happy Thanksgiving from the states!

Carnelian doesn’t particularly like his name. He can't say he hates it; it isn’t a bad name really. The royal family of Alba takes great care in naming its children, using names of precious gemstones. After all, nothing is more precious than the heirs to the kingdom, or so they say.

Carnelian just thinks it's all nonsense—if he's supposed to be so special, then why does he feel so worthless all the time? He can never remember much of his lessons (not that he doesn’t try), he can't play an instrument, he can't dance, and he always loses when he fences with his instructor.

The geology textbook he's reading in the library says carnelians are symbols of vitality and passion, and if there's one thing Carnelian has going for him it's his health, but good health doesn’t make a good king, unfortunately. Besides, he doubts the good health will last; few live long on Alba with how little sunlight reaches the planet. In fact, that might be why Carnelian is having such melancholic thoughts today; today is the annual lantern festival to honor those lost to the darkness.

He doesn’t know how to fix that. His father wasn’t able to, and at the rate his health is declining, he probably won’t ever be able to—how can unremarkable Carnelian do anything different? It just isn’t fair; the other planets in their system are fine. He hears Bestia has lush green forests and plenty of light, so perhaps if that could be shared with Alba somehow...

Carnelian slams his book shut. This isn’t helpful. There's so much he doesn’t know, so much he doesn’t understand, and if his track record with his tutors is any indication, reading isn’t going to be of any use.

So he sneaks out of the castle. It takes him about ten minutes to get lost.

"The main square always looked so close from the window..." he grumbles, glancing at his home and realizing he isn’t entirely sure how he got from there to here.

"You look lost," a voice drawls from right next to him, making him jump.

"I-I'm not lost!" Carnelian stammers, heat rising to his face at how weak his voice sounds, worse that he's short and has to back up to look up at the person.

"That’s what lost people always say." With a very put-upon sigh, the stranger—a scruffy boy with long light hair, no older than he is—doesn’t give him a chance to protest any more, holding his hand out. "Here, I'll take you. Where are you going?"

It's strange to be talked to so casually when back at the castle people are reprimanded if even the tone of their voice is anything but respectful. Carnelian kind of likes it though; it's different and exciting, and he throws any remaining caution away as he takes the stranger's hand. "I want to go to the main square."

"You here for the lantern festival?" the boy asks as he starts down the road, tugging Carnelian gently after him.

"Something like that," Carnelian replies, glancing around and taking in his surroundings now that he isn’t concerned about which way he's going. The town is even dimmer than the castle, the street lights not nearly enough to combat the ever-present darkness. There's a stillness to the streets, and Carnelian doesn’t know if that’s symptomatic of the day of remembrance or if it's a common feeling. He has a feeling it's closer to the latter.

The crowd grows as they approach the square. The somberness persists, but the darkness certainly doesn’t—lanterns are in nearly everyone's hands, some already in the air, floating on the heat of the fires inside and the thoughts of the people who made them.

Seeing them from up close instead of from his bedroom window is like a dream, the little lights fluttering around like fairies, brightening up every corner of the square. Carnelian wonders if this is how it looks on planets with sunlight, if it's this bright and warm. He isn’t actually sure if he wants to know though, because the lanterns will be gone by the end of the day, and to think that other planets can have something even resembling this every day...

"Do you want to make one?" Carnelian's thoughts are interrupted by the other boy, who is still holding his hand.

"Can I?"

The boy grins, pulling him gently—always gently—to a stand on the edge of the square where he asks for supplies. "It's all free," the boy explains as he sits them off to the side and lays everything down. "Even though everyone's remembering the dead, everyone gets a little happier today because of all the lights."

Carnelian can relate. "So what do we do?"

"People usually write on the paper before they send them up, but you can do whatever you want." The boy quickly draws a cute little animal on his lantern. "See?"

"Whoa! That's so good!" Carnelian can’t stop the awe and glee that bleeds into his voice, looking from the boy's handiwork to his blank canvas in front of him. He can do anything...anything at all...

As he thinks about what to put on the lantern, he can feel the others gaze on him, but he thinks nothing of it until the boy suddenly speaks, "Hey, you’re the prince, aren’t you?"

Carnelian freezes. "...What if I am?"

The boy shrugs. "I was just wondering. It doesn’t really matter to me."

"But you bothered to ask."

"I mean, I guess I'm just happy you're a regular kid like me. All you hear about is that the prince is going to be the chosen one, he's going to lead us to salvation, whatever that means. It's like you’re some god, but you’re actually just some kid that gets lost like everyone else."

"Hey!" Carnelian puffs out his cheeks indignantly, but the other boy just laughs, and despite his pouting, Carnelian can’t help the surge of happiness he feels to be treated like a regular human being. "What gave me away?" he asks. "How'd you know I was the prince?"

"I mean, you've got really nice clothes on and you’ve obviously never been to this part of town before even though everyone comes here. And your eyes and hair make it kind of obvious."

Carnelian finds himself patting his hair and face unconsciously. "They do?"

"Everyone says the prince has bright hair and eyes, like he'll be our guiding light, or something like that. This one old lady I help out says it's like some gemstone—what was it? Keratin or something."

"...Carnelian?"

"Yeah, that one!"

"Carnelians are boring though," Carnelian says, frustrated that he's somehow revisiting this thought for the second time today. "They’re supposed to be lively, but there’s nothing that special about that."

"Really? I think, on this planet, liveliness is hard to find. Except today." The boy lights the flame beneath his lantern. "Everyone loves these lanterns. They’re bright, like we've got a bunch of tiny suns right here, on this planet that gets barely any light." He puts the lantern next to Carnelian, looking between it and his face before nodding like he's decided something. "They're kind of like your hair. Like there's light inside you, and around here, that’s the same as life, and where there's life, there's hope."

Carnelian thinks it’s unfair that this total stranger has the power to bring him to the brink of tears, for once feeling nothing but good things about himself and his name. He doesn’t think he's anything as lofty as the planet's light and hope, but he wants to be, if only because this boy says so.

"What's your name?"

"I don’t have one," is the nonchalant reply. "I don’t have any parents, and no one bothered to give me one."

Carnelian wonders if this is a common occurrence in the town and makes a mental note to ask at some point.

"...I'm going to name you Lazu."

"Huh? Why?"

"I just like the name, so take it!"

It's all a lie, of course, but Lazu doesn’t need to know that he shares a name with a stone from Carnelian's textbooks, a stone that everyone calls "the truth stone." The prophets of old would wear them exclusively, so there must be something to that. Carnelian wants Lazu's words to be true, wants to believe that he can be someone worthwhile, so perhaps this name can be a start.

Besides, Lazu deserves a good name, and what better name than a precious gem. After all, nothing is more precious than Carnelian's first friend.

He scribbles quickly on his lantern and lights the flame, letting it rise into the air. "Lazu, do you want to stay with me? I'll take care of you if you take care of me."

"Do I get to stay in the castle with you?"

"Of course!"

"Then sure. You probably need help getting back to the castle anyway."

"Hey!"

Carnelian lets Lazu take him by the hand again, and they begin walking back home. He takes one last look over his shoulder, where all the lanterns still float brightly against the dark sky. He doesn’t know which one is his anymore, but he knows it's out there. A little lantern with a single wish written on it.

_"I wish for my people to be happy."_


End file.
